The Avocados, The Golds - The Replaceables?

Can you spot an inefficient refrigerator by its color or its age? Tests reveal which rules a program administrator can depend on.

Many states are currently introducing electric baseload components into their lowincome weatherization programs. Often replacing refrigerators rises to the top of a reducing baseload to-do list. But which refrigerators should be replaced? Answering that question is a tough challenge for a program designer who has to balance minimizing the probability of replacing efficient refrigerators against creating a decision mechanism that will fit into a weatherization team’s routine. Monitoring refrigerators for an extended period of time is the most accurate method of estimating annual electricity usage. But this method generally places too great a demand on the resources that are available to weatherization program administrators.Recognizing this limitation, the national weatherization program requires only that monitoring must be done for at least 10% of the units replaced. In tandem with this level of monitoring, administrators are looking for a few good rules to guide replacement decisions. Wisconsin has chosen to jump into the measurement-versus-rule fray by stipulating that all units manufactured before 1990 are eligible for replacement. Like most good rules, the Wisconsin rule is easy to communicate to program staff, requires no ...